The Road to My First Marathon

Running has been a constant in my life for several years now. I love distance running in particular. I’m never satisfied if any run is less than an hour. My favourite run of the week is my long run, can't wait for Sundays to come round so I can head out on my favourite routes.

So it seemed natural that at some point I would want to run a marathon. I feel the time is right, my body feels strong and my form feels good enough. No doubt it's been a long road to get to this place and there is still a long way to go in training but Chi Running and years of practise mean I may make it to the start line intact!

Danny Dreyer recently published a video on the definition of success in Chi Running . Success means different things to different people and and in running it is often determined by how fast you can run. Success to me in this endeavour will mean being able to enjoy and complete the training program injury free. Be able to turn up on the start line totally prepared and complete the marathon wanting to do another one!

Success also means to me looking back at where I’ve come from and where I am now. That very injured broken runner with pretty terrible running form from years ago has been replaced by a new and improved version thankfully.

I hope the runner I will be in the next few years or even 6 months will be an even more improved version despite the aging process. All these years building a solid foundation, I now feel truly relaxed running and yet know that there is still so much more progress to be made.

I am still training to heart rate and continue to see good progress here too. Like Chi Running changes cannot be made overnight but take practise, persistence and patience.

So practise, be consistent, celebrate your successes, otherwise you may never know how good running can truly feel.

A Chi Running Love Letter

Just wanted to say that after reading Chi Running and trying it for a week, I felt like it finally "clicked", and I cannot even remember how to run the old way (which I did faithfully for over 20 years).

How many times have you gone out for a run and felt like your legs were made of concrete, or worse? Well, let me clue you in on a little secret. They might not feel so bad from something you did as from something that you didn't do. Many people don't realize that it's important to treat your legs well during the time between runs in order to optimize the enjoyment of your workouts.

In my previous blog I talked about the simplest and most effective way for walkers to reduce impact to their knees and hips. So, in all fairness to you runners, this post is for you. Since runners, as a rule, are a bit more injury-prone than walkers, the simplest way to avoid knee pain or [...]